Egyptians in New York demand re-opening of Rafah crossing

A protest rally has been held in front of Egypt’s mission to the UN in New York with thousands of Egyptians calling on their government to re-open the Rafah border crossing into the besieged Gaza Strip.

The protest rally in New York was held on Thursday to mark the anniversary of a bloody crackdown in Egypt last year, after the army led by former General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi toppled the country’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi in early July.

The protesters in New York said the Egyptian and US governments are complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians, denouncing el-Sisi, now Egypt’s president, for initiating political repression in Egypt.

They also urged Cairo to open the Rafah border crossing for international humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip and for the oppressed Palestinians to be able to transfer their injured loved ones out of the coastal enclave to where they would need for treatment.

Gaza has also been under Israel’s blockade since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living and poverty.

The Rafah border crossing, linking Gaza to Egypt, is the only escape route that does not lead into Israel and can be used for the delivery of food and medical stuff to the besieged Palestinian territory; however, Egypt has kept the crossing closed despite international calls to open it.

Israeli launched a war on Gaza on July 8. Since then, more than 1,960 Palestinians, including 470 children, have been killed and over 10,100 others injured in the Israeli military aggression against Gaza. Egypt has almost totally kept the Rafah crossing closed during Israel’s latest aggression against the strip.